The Jewish Museum and Bang on a Can Present Tomeka Reid Quartet

New York, NY – Bang on a Can and the Jewish Museum’s 2017-18 concert season, which focuses on pioneering female artists, concludes on Thursday, April 26, 2018 at 7:30pm with a performance by cellist, composer, and improviser Tomeka Reid. Reid will perform with the Tomeka Reid Quartet, her own collection of leading Chicago and New York-based musicians, including Jason Roebke, bass; Mary Halvorson, guitar; and Tomas Fujiwara, drums. The ensemble will perform new compositions, combining her love of groove along with freer concepts, inspired by the themes in Scenes from the Collection, a new, major exhibition of the Jewish Museum's unparalleled collection featuring nearly 600 works from antiquities to contemporary art.

On being a pioneer, Reid says, “I like to think that I am a musician who is helping, along with so many other musicians, to keep moving the tradition forward. There have been many other string players and female musicians before me who have helped pave the way and have showed me possibility. I am honored to be a part of this legacy, while carving out my own path. I am an advocate for other string players to explore the imaginative world of improvisation because I feel like it develops us not only musically but personally too. I also feel like it's a great medium for musical and cultural exchange. I am currently embarking on a month long tour in places like Beirut, Istanbul, Cairo and Addis Ababa and I am so grateful to partake in so many improvisational musical exchanges.”

In the ongoing exhibition, Scenes from the Collection, art and Jewish objects are shown together, affirming universal values that are shared among people of all faiths and backgrounds. The installation is a powerful expression of artistic and cultural creativity as well as a reflection of the continual evolution that is the essence of Jewish identity. This unique mix of art and ceremonial objects speaks of the many strands of Jewish tradition, culture, spirituality, and history. The stories the works of art tell illuminate multiple perspectives on being Jewish in the past and present, how Jewish culture intersects with art, and how it is part of the larger world of global interconnections.

About Tomeka Reid
Recently described as a “New Jazz Power Source” by the New York Times, Chicago cellist and composer Tomeka Reid has emerged as one of the most original, versatile, and curious musicians in the Chicago’s bustling jazz and improvised music community over the last decade. Her distinctive melodic sensibility, usually braided to a strong sense of groove, has been featured in many distinguished ensembles over the years. Reid has been a key member of ensembles led by legendary reedists like Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell, as well as a younger generation of visionaries including flutist Nicole Mitchell, singer Dee Alexander, and drummer Mike Reed. She is also a co-leader of the adventurous string trio Hear in Now, with violinist Mazz Swift and bassist Silvia Bolognesi. Reid released her debut recording as a bandleader in 2015, with the eponymous recording by the Tomeka Reid Quartet, a lively yet charged debut album that is a vibrant showcase not only for the cellist’s improvisational acumen, but also her knack for dynamic arrangements and her compositional ability. Reid, grew up outside of Washington D.C., and her musical career kicked into gear after moving to Chicago in 2000 to attend DePaul University for graduate school. Her work with Nicole Mitchell and various Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians-related groups have proved influential to the young musician. By focusing on developing her craft primarily as a side person and working in countless improvisational contexts, Reid has achieved a stunning musical maturity. Reid is a 2016 recipient of a 3Arts award in music and received her doctorate in music from the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign in 2017.

The 2017-2018 season marks the fourth year of the Jewish Museum and Bang on a Can’s partnership, producing dynamic musical performances inspired by the Museum’s diverse slate of exhibitions. This is the final concert of this season focused on pioneering female artists. Details about the 2018-2019 season to be announced.

Tickets for the April 26 program are $18 general public; $15 students and senior citizens; and $12 for Jewish Museum members and Bang on a Can list members, and include exhibition admission prior to the performance. Further program and ticket information is available by calling 212.423.3337 or at TheJewishMuseum.org/calendar. The Jewish Museum is located at Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street, NYC.

Support
Public Programming at the Jewish Museum is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

About Bang on a Can
Bang on a Can is dedicated to making music new. Founded by composers Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, who curatored the first Marathon concert in 1987 and remain co-Artistic Directors to this day, Bang on a Can has been creating an international community dedicated to innovative music, wherever it is found. With adventurous programs, it commissions new composers; performs, presents, and records new work; develops new audiences; and educates the musicians of the future. “Bang on a Can plays “a central role in fostering a new kind of audience that doesn’t concern itself with boundaries. If music is made with originality and integrity, these listeners will come” (The New York Times). Current projects include the annual Bang on a Can Marathon; The People’s Commissioning Fund, a membership program to commission emerging composers; the Bang on a Can All-Stars, who tour to major festivals and concert venues around the world; the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA, a professional development program for young musicians; Asphalt Orchestra, Bang on a Can’s extreme street band; and Found Sound Nation, a musical outreach program partnering with the U.S. State Department to create OneBeat, a program that bridges the gulf between young American musicians and young musicians from developing countries. For more information, visit www.bangonacan.org.